^^  OF  Pftfi^ 


JAN  2  5 


1993 


BV  2360  .S87  A3  1906 
Student  Volunteer  Movement 

for  Foreign  Missions. 
The  first  two  decades  of  the 

Student  Volunteer  Movement 


^HE  FIRST  TWO  DECADES  OF  THE 
STUDENT  VOLUNTEER  MOVEMENT 

REPORT  OF  THE  EXECUTIVE  COMMITTEE  TO 
THE  FIFTH  INTERNATIONAL  CONVENTION 
NASHVILLE  —  FEBRUARY  TWENTY-EIGHTH  — 
MARCH  FOURTH  NINETEEN  HUNDRED  and  SIX 


New  York 

THE  STUDENT  VOLUNTEER  MOVEMENT 

THREE      WEST      TWENTY-NINTH      STREET 


TKe  First  T-wo  Decades  of  tHe  Student 
Volunteer  Movement 


The  year  1906  is  a  year  of  two  anniversaries  of  unusual 
interest  and  significance  to  the  student  world.  It  is  the 
twentieth  anniversary  of  the  inauguration  of  the  Student 
Volunteer  Movement  for  Foreign  Missions  at  Mt.  Hemion, 
and  also  the  centennial  anniversary  of  the  American  for- 
eign missionary  enterprise  which  began  with  the  mem- 
orable Haystack  Prayer-meeting  at  Williams  College  in 
1806.  It  is  a  suggestive  coincidence  that  the  earnest  band 
of  Christian  students  at  Williams  and  the  hundred  stu- 
dent delegates  who  volunteered  at  Mt.  Hermon  had  before 
them  the  common  ambition  of  creating  and  extending  a 
student  missionary  movement.  The  conditions,  how- 
ever, for  the  development  of  an  intercollegiate  society  were  y 
not  favorable  in  the  days  of  the  Haystack  Band.  In 
those  days  the  colleges  were  few  and  isolated.  The  means 
of  communication  were  poor.  The  intercollegiate  idea 
had  not  been  worked  out  in  any  other  department  of  col- 
lege life.  There  were  no  strong  religious  societies  of  under- 
graduates to  furnish  the  field  and  atmosphere  for  a  com- 
prehensive missionary  movement. 

The  situation  had  entirely  changed  eighty  years  later 
when  251  delegates  from  eighty-nine  colleges  of  all  parts 
of  the  United  States  and  Canada  assembled  at  Mt.  Her- 
mon on  the  banks  of  the  Connecticut  for  the  first  inter- 
national Christian  student  conference  ever  held.  They 
came  together  as  representatives  of  an  intercollegiate 
Christian  society  with  branches  in  over  200  colleges. 
There  was  a  corresponding  movement  among  the  college 
women   of  the   country.     There   were   two   others   among 

3 


the  theological  students  of  the  United  States  and  Canada 
respectively.  These  societies,  closely  bound  together  by 
the  intercollegiate  tie,  furnished  the  most  favorable  con- 
ditions for  a  successful  missionary  propaganda.  Although 
at  the  beginning  of  this  conference  less  than  a  score  of 
the  delegates  were  thinking  of  becoming  missionaries,  by 
its  close  one  hundred  had  indicated  their  willingness  and 
desire,  God  permitting,  to  become  foreign  missionaries. 
The  story  of  the  spread  of  this  missionary  uprising  to  all 
parts  of  the  student  field  of  North  America  is  familiar 
and  need  not  be  repeated.  It  has  seemed  appropriate,  in 
view  of  the  anniversary  character  of  our  Convention  this 
year,  to  depart  from  the  custom  of  confining  our  report 
to  the  progress  of  the  preceding  quadrennium  and  instead 
to  survey  the  achievements  of  the  Volunteer  Movement 
during  the  two  decades  of  its  history  and  make  a  forecast 
of  the  tasks  confronting  us  in  the  new  decade  upon  which 
we  now  enter. 

It  will  be  well  to  reiterate  the  fourfold  purpose  of  the 
Volunteer  Movement,  namely,  (1)  to  lead  students  to  a 
thorough  consideration  of  the  claims  of  foreign  missions 
upon  them  as  a  life-work ;  (2)  to  foster  the  purpose  of  all 
students  who  decide  to  become  foreign  missionaries,  by 
helping  to  guide  and  to  stimulate  them  in  mission  study 
and  in  work  for  missions  until  they  pass  under  the  immed- 
iate direction  of  the  mission  boards;  (3)  to  unite  all  volun- 
teers in  an  organized,  aggressive  movement;  (4)  to  create 
and  maintain  an  intelligent,  sympathetic,  active  interest 
in  foreign  missions  among  the  students  who  are  to  remain 
on  the  home  field  in  order  that  they  may  back  up  this 
great  enterprise  by  their  prayers,  their  gifts,  and  their 
efforts.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  this  Movement  is  not  a 
missionary  society  or  board  in  the  sense  of  being  an  organ- 
ization to  send  out  to  the  foreign  field  its  own  missionaries. 
It  is  rather  a  recruiting  society  for  the  various  missionary 
boards.     Its  highest  ambition  is  to  serve  the  Church. 

The  field  for  the  cultivation  of  which  the  Movement 
holds  itself  responsible  is  the  student  field  of  the  United 
States  and  Canada.  This  embraces  all  classes  of  institu- 
tions of  higher  learning,  both  denominational  and  unde- 
nominational.    The  Movement  is  under  the  direction  of  an 


Executive  Committee  composed  of  six  representatives  of 
the  Student  Young  Men's  and  Yoimg  Women's  Christian 
Associations,  which,  as  is  well  known,  are  the  two  compre- 
hensive Christian  organizations  among  students  of  North 
America.  There  is  an  Advisory  Committee  made  up  of 
secretaries  and  members  of  several  of  the  principal  mission 
boards  of  North  America,  and  also  a  Board  of  Trustees.    ., 

Before  this  Movement  was  a  year  old.  President  McCosh  |' 
of  Princeton  said  of  it  in  writing  to  The  Philadelphian,  i 
"The  deepest  feeling  which  I  have  is  that  of  wonder  as  to 
what  this  work  may  grow  to.  Has  any  such  offering  of 
living  young  men  and  young  women  been  presented  in 
our  age,  in  our  countr}^  in  any  age,  or  in  any  country 
since  the  Day  of  Pentecost?"  The  Church  certainly  had 
a  right  to  expect  that  a  movement  with  such  a  personnel, 
operating  in  such  a  field  as  that  of  the  colleges  and  theo-  , 
logical  seminaries  of  North  America,  engaged  in  an  under- 
taking so  sublime  and  inspiring  as  the  evangelization  of 
the  world,  would  accomplish  large  and  beneficent  results. 
That  this  has  been  the  case  will  be  apparent  as  we  con- 
sider in  outline  a  number  of  the  outstanding  facts  of  pro- 
gress which  have  been  achieved  by  this  Movement  during 
its  short  life  of  twenty  years. 

The  Volunteer  Movement  has  touched  by  its  propaganda 
nearly  if  not  quite  1,000  institutions  of  higher  learning  in 
North  America.  Upon  800  of  these  institutions  it  has 
brought  to  bear  one  or  more  of  its  agencies  with  such  con- 
stancy and  thoroughness  as  to  make  an  effective  missionary 
impression.  This  includes  nearly  all  of  the  American  and 
Canadian  colleges  and  theological  seminaries  of  importance. 
In  the  case  of  a  large  majority  of  these  institutions  the 
work  of  the  Movement  has  been  the  first  real  missionary 
cultivation  which  they  have  ever  received.  It  is  the  testi- 
mony of  professors  and  other  observers  that  even  in  the 
rest  of  the  institutions  which  had  already  been  influenced 
in  different  ways  by  the  missionary  idea,  the  Volunteer 
Movement  has  very  greatly  developed  missionary  interest 
and  activity. 

There  are  few  student  communities  in  which  the  spirit 
of  missions  is  not  stronger  and  more  fruitful  because  of 
the    work   of   the    Student   Volunteer   Movement.     As    a 


result  of  the  visits  of  its  secretaries,  the  training  of  leaders 
for  student  missionary  activities  at  the  various  student 
conferences,  the  promotion  of  its  mission  study  scheme, 
and  the  pressing  upon  educated  young  men  and  women 
of  the  claims  of  the  world-wide  extension  of  Christ's  King- 
dom at  its  great  international  conventions  and  on  other 
occasions,  the  subject  of  missions  has  taken  a  stronger  hold 
on  the  student  class  of  North  America  than  has  any  other 
theme  or  undertaking.  The  vital  importance  and  moral 
grandeur  of  the  missionary  enterprise  have  been  presented 
in  such  a  way  as  to  command  the  respect  and  allegiance 
of  the  educated  classes.  It  may  be  said  with  truth  that 
no  class  of  people  believe  so  strongly  in  missions  as  do  the 
students.  This  is  a  fact  of  the  largest  possible  significance 
because  from  their  ranks  come  the  leaders  in  the  realm  of 
thought  and  also  of  action. 

As  a  result  of  disseminating  missionary  intelligence,  of 
personal  effort  on  the  part  of  student  volunteers  and 
traveling  secretaries,  and  of  the  promotion  of  the  ministry 
of  intercession,  not  to  mention  other  causes,  the  Movement 
has  increased  greatly  the  number  of  missionary  candidates. 
Thousands  of  students  have  become  volunteers  by  signing 
the  volunteer  declaration,  thus  indicating  their  desire  and 
purpose,  God  permitting,  to  become  foreign  missionaries. 
This  campaign  for  missionary  recruits  has  been  waged  with 
earnestness  for  five  student  generations.  Profiting  by 
mistakes  made  in  the  early  years  of  its  history,  the  Move- 
ment has  become  more  and  more  conservative  in  this  work 
of  raising  up  missionary  candidates.  No  one  familiar  with 
the  methods  now  employed  finds  ground  for  unfavorable 
criticism. 

Some  mission  board  secretaries  have  recently  raised  the 
question  whether  the  Movement  has  not  swung  in  its  policy 
to  an  extreme  of  caution  and  conservatism.  Notwith- 
standing the  ultra-conservative  policy  in  recent  years,  the 
number  of  students  intending  to  become  missionaries  is 
,'  over  five  times  as  great  in  the  colleges  and  fully  twice  as 
'  great  in  the  theological  seminaries  as  was  the  case  when 
the  Volunteer  Movement  was  inaugurated.  This  is  no 
small  achievement,  because  it  is  not  easy  to  influence  young 
men  and  young  women  to  become  missionaries.     The  many 

6 


misconceptions  and  prejudices  concerning  the  missionary 
call,  the  opposition  of  relatives  and  friends,  the  prevailing 
spirit  of  mercantilism  and  materialism,  and  the  tendency 
to  inconclusive  thinking  among  so  many  students,  com- 
bine to  render  the  work  of  securing  missionary  recruits 
one  of  extreme  difficulty. 

A  larger  number  of  new  volunteers  have  been  enlisted 
during  the  past  four  years  than  during  any  one  of  the 
three  preceding  quadrenniums. 

The  growing  number  of  missionary  candidates  stands  out 
in  striking  contrast  with  the  decline  in  the  number  of  can- 
didates for  the  Christian  ministry.  Some  people  have 
thought  that  the  increase  in  the  number  of  student  volun- 
teers accounts  for  the  decrease  in  the  number  of  ministerial 
candidates.  This  is  a  superficial  view;  for  actual  investi- 
gations show  that  in  those  colleges  where  the  claims  of 
foreign  missions  have  been  most  successfully  emphasized 
there  has  been  the  largest  increase  in  the  number  of  men 
deciding  to  enter  the  ministry.  If  the  Volunteer  Movement 
has  been  more  successful  in  its  effort  to  obtain  recruits 
than  has  the  propaganda  for  ministerial  candidates,  this 
result  is  due  to  the  methods  it  has  employed,  the  earnest- 
ness with  which  these  methods  have  been  promoted,  and 
the  motives  to  which  appeal  has  been  made. 

Because  the  Volunteer  Movement  is  a  movement  and 
because  it  is  a  movement  for  foreign  missions,  the  princi- 
pal proof  of  its  efficiency  is  to  be  found  in  the  going  forth 
of  its  members  to  the  foreign  mission  field.  No  matter 
what  its  other  achievements  may  be,  nothing  can  take  the 
place  of  this  result.  This  is  its  distinctive  mission.  It  is 
gratifying  therefore  to  note  that  the  Movement  has  on  its 
records  the  names  of  2,953  volunteers  who,  prior  to  Janu- 
ary 1 ,  1906,  had  sailed  to  the  mission  field.  At  the  Toronto 
Convention  the  hope  was  expressed  that  during  the  next 
quadrennium  1,000  volunteers  might  go  forth.  It  is  a 
striking  coincidence  that  the  number  who  have  sailed  dur- 
ing the  past  four  years  so  far  as  we  have  information  is  an 
even  1,000.  About  one-third  of  the  sailed  volunteers  are 
women.  Not  less  than  fifty  denominations  are  repre- 
sented in  the  sailed  list. 


Including  the  regular  denominational  boards  under  which 
nearly  all  of  the  volunteers  have  gone  out,  and  also  certain 
undenominational  and  special  societies,  the  number  of 
different  agencies  under  which  volunteers  are  serving  is 
very  nearly  one  hundred.  While  the  greatest  proportion 
are  engaged  in  evangelistic  work,  a  large  number  have 
entered  medical  and  educational  missions,  and  every  other 
phase  of  missionary  activity  is  represented  in  the  forms 
of  service  in  which  the  volunteers  are  occupied.  The  sailed 
volunteers  are  distributed  as  follows: 

Among  Indians  and   Eskimos  of  Alaska  and 

British  North  America 39 

Mexico... 86 

Central  America 17 

South  America - 1 67 

West  Indies G9 

Latin  and  Greek  Church  Countries  of  Europe 18 

Africa - ^13 

Turkish  Empire 121 

Arabia 10 

Persia 30 

India,  Burma,  and  Ceylon 624 

Siam.  Laos,  and  Straits  Settlements 61 

Chma ■  826 

Korea _ 117 

Japan 275 

Philippine  Islands 64 

Oceania 43 

Miscellaneous 73 

•     Total - 2,953 

The  question  is  sometimes  raised,  Would  not  many  of 
these  volunteers  have  gone  abroad  even  had  there  been 
no  Volunteer  Movement?  A  question  like  this  can  never 
be  completely  answered.  A  somewhat  extensive  investi- 
gation involving  interviews  with  a  large  number  of  volun- 
teers in  different  foreign  fields  by  a  member  of  the  Execu- 
tive Committee  of  the  Movement,  has  furnished  data  for 
the  conclusion  that  about  seventy-five  per  cent,  of  the 
sailed  volunteers  assign  the  work  of  the  Movement  as  the 

8 


determining  cause  in  influencing  them  to  go  abroad  in 
missionary  service.  Reasons  could  be  given  for  increasing 
this  proportion.  It  should  be  pointed  out  also  that  quite 
a  number  who  never  signed  the  volunteer  declaration  have 
reached  the  foreign  field  as  a  direct  result  of  the  Movement. 
Volunteers  whose  missionary  decision  is  traceable  to  other 
causes  testify  that  the  Movement  did  much  to  strengthen 
their  purpose,  to  help  them  in  preparation  for  tlieir  life- 
work,  and  to  hasten  their  going  abroad. 

Further  proof  that  this  organization  is  well  characterized 
as  a  movement  is  its  increasing  momentum.  Two  and 
one-half  times  as  many  volunteers  have  sailed  during  the 
last  ten  years  as  during  the  preceding  ten  years.  Nothing 
illustrates  the  spirit  of  this  Movement  better  than  the  way 
in  which  its  leaders  have  pressed  to  the  front.  Of  the 
sixty-nine  members  of  the  Executive  Committee  and  sec-  n 

retaries  of  the  Movement  who  have  been  volunteers,  forty-  ^^ 
eight  have  sailed,  six  have  applied  to  the  boards  but  have 
been  detained  by  them  for  missionary  purposes,  five  are 
under  appointment  to  sail  in  the  near  future,  two  are 
securing  final  preparation,  and  eight  have  thus  far  been 
unable  to  go  on  account  of  poor  health ;  none  have  renounced 
their  purpose. 

Secretaries  of  the  mission  boards  testify  that  the  Move- 
ment has  been  helpful  in  making  possible  the  raising  of 
the  standards  of  qualifications  of  intending  missionaries. 
During  the  past  twelve  years  in  particular  it  has  empha- 
sized that  those  who  are  to  become  missionaries  should 
possess  the  highest  qualifications.  It  invariably  encour- 
ages students  to  take  a  regular  and  thorough  college  or  , 
university  course  and  to  press  on  to  such  graduate  courses 
as  may  be  required  by  the  agencies  under  which  they 
expect  to  go  abroad.  It  urges  upOn  students  that  when- 
ever practicable  they  should  supplement  the  regular 
courses  by  special  studies  in  departments  of  learning  which 
will  better  equip  them  for  the  difficult  and  responsible 
task  of  laying  secure  foundations  in  non-Christian  fields. 

The  promotion  of  the  progressive  study  of  missions 
through  its  educational  department  has  in  itself  been  a 
most  helpful  influence  in  preparation  for  the  missionary 
career.     Leading  board  secretaries  have  repeatedly  empha- 


sized  the  indispensable  value  of  the  educational  depart- 
ment of  the  Movement  in  affording  facilities  for  securing 
such  knowledge  of  missionary  subjects.  The  volunteers 
as  a  rule  have  been  encouraged  to  throw  themselves  into 
the  active  work  of  the  Young  Men's  and  Young  Women's 
Christian  Associations  during  their  student  days.  This 
has  helped  to  develop  their  executive,  administrative,  and 
inventive  abilities.  It  has  accustomed  them  to  working 
with  others.  It  has  given  them  experience  in  personal 
evangelism,  which  is  one  of  the  principal  methods  they  will 
employ  all  their  lives  on  the  foreign  field.  It  would  be 
impossible  to  over-state  the  importance  of  the  service 
which  the  Movement  has  rendered  in  guiding  and  stimu- 
lating volunteers  to  fonn  right  devotional  habits  such  as 
that  of  personal  Bible  study,  secret  prayer,  the  observance 
of  the  Morning  Watch,  and  the  practice  of  religious  medi- 
tation, because  those  who  are  familiar  with  the  conditions 
which  obtain  on  the  mission  field  know  that  when  these 
habits  are  not  formed  during  undergraduate  days  it  is  a 
most  difficult  and  discouraging  experience  to  try  to  form 
them  after  one  enters  upon  missionary  service.  Above  all 
the  Movement  insists  that  each  volunteer  should  come  to 
know  in  actual  personal  experience  day  by  day  Jesus 
Christ  as  the  only  sufficient  Saviour,  and  the  Spirit  of  God 
as  the  only  adequate  power  in  Christian  service.  It  is 
evident,  therefore,  that  the  Movement  in  ways  like  these 
has  accomplished  much  in  promoting  a  higher  quality  of 
missionary  effort  as  truly  as  it  has  increased  the  volume 
of  missionary  service. 

From  the  beginning  the  Volunteer  Movement  has  ob- 
served in  its  policy  the  principle  of  the  cantilever  bridge; 
that  is,  that  the  one  way  to  make  possible  the  thrusting 
forth  and  sustaining  of  the  volunteers  who  constitute  the 
foreign  arm  of  the  service  is  by  enlisting  the  intelligent, 
sympathetic,  and  active  support  of  the  students  who  are 
to  spend  their  lives  in  work  on  the  home  field  and  who  in 
turn  constitute  the  home  arm  of  the  service.  The  old 
antithesis  between  the  claims  of  the  home  and  foreign 
fields  has,  therefore,  as  a  result  of  this  policy  been  rapidly 
disappearing.  Each  volunteer  who  sails  means  more  than 
one  additional  helper  in  this  world-wide  missionary  cam- 


paign.  He  stands  for  a  constituency  of  his  fellow  students 
who  largely  as  a  result  of  his  going  have  acquired  a  special 
interest  in  the  enterprise  and  have  come  to  feel  a  sense  of 
responsibility  for  its  successful  accomplishment. 

Thousands  of  young  men  and  young  women  in  the  col- 
leges are  year  by  year  entering  other  callings  with  the 
missionary  spirit.  Great  as  has  been  the  service  rendered 
by  the  Movement  in  helping  to  make  the  coming  ministry 
of  the  Church  a  missionary  ministry,  a  service  equally 
great  and  in  some  respects  more  needed  has  been  that  of 
influencing  the  men  who  are  to  become  the  statesmen, 
lawyers,  doctors,  editors,  teachers,  engineers,  and  educated 
commercial  and  industrial  leaders  to  recognize  and  to 
accept  their  personal  responsibility  for  the  extension  of 
Christ's  Kingdom  throughout  the  world.  Moreover,  in 
interesting  in  the  missionary  cause  the  educated  young 
men  who  are  later  to  represent  us  in  the  diplomatic,  con- 
sular, civil,  military,  and  naval  service  in  distant  parts 
of  the  world,  the  Movement  has  greatly  strengthened  the 
hands  of  foreign  missions.  It  is  a  fact  of  unusual  interest 
and  significance  that  nineteen  of  the  present  secretaries 
of  twelve  foreign  mission  boards  have  come  from  the  ranks 
of  the  Movement.  Several  of  these  men  were  called  to 
this  work  after  they  had  rendered  service  on  the  foreign 
mission  field. 

Before  the  Volunteer  Movement  was  organized  compara- 
tively little  was  being  done  to  inform,  still  less  to  educate 
students  on  the  subject  of  foreign  missions.  In  a  few 
institutions  missionary  meetings  were  held  from  time  to 
time.  Now  and  then  a  missionary'  on  furlough  would 
visit  a  college  or  seminary.  But  as  soon  as  the  Movement 
entered  the  field  it  inaugurated  an  educational  missionary 
campaign  which  has  become  increasingly  extensive  and 
efficient.  Formerly,  not  one  student  in  twenty  had  the 
subject  of  missions  brought  to  his  attention.  Now  few  if 
any  Christian  students  pass  through  college  without  being 
brought  face  to  face  with  the  most  important  facts  about 
the  non-Christian  world  and  the  missionary  responsibility 
of  the  Church.  It  is  now  the  general  rule  for  each  student 
Christian  Association  to  hold  regular  missionary  meet- 
ings.    A  large  staff  of  traveling  secretaries  of  the  Volun- 


.Y' 


teer  Movement  make  effective  appeals  in  hundreds  of  col- 
leges and  seminaries  each  year.  Scores  of  returned  mis- 
sionaries are  invited  to  visit  the  different  institutions. 
Missionary  libraries  have  been  established  in  most  impor- 
tant student  centers.  Missionary  lectureships  have  been 
inaugurated  in  several  of  the  theological  seminaries  and 
in  a  few  colleges.  Most  of  these  advances  are  traceable 
directly   to  the  Volunteer  Movement. 

By  far  the  greatest  service,  however,  in  promoting  mis- 
sionary education  has  been  through  its  educational  depart- 
ment which  was  organized  twelve  years  ago.  At  that 
time  an  investigation  revealed  that  in  all  the  student  field 
of  North  America  there  were  less  than  a  score  of  classes  car- 
rying on  a  progressive  study  of  missions.  Since  then  the 
Movement  has  organized  mission  study  classes  in  668  dif- 
ferent institutions.  During  the  past  year  there  were  1,049 
mission  classes  with  an  enrollment  of  12,629  different  stu- 
dents. As  an  indication  that  this  work  is  growing  rapidly 
it  need  only  be  pointed  out  that  at  Toronto  four  years  ago 
it  was  reported  that  there  were  but  325  classes  with  an 
enrollment  of  less  than  5,000.  Fully  three-fourths  of  the 
members  of  these  classes  are  not  volunteers.  This  in 
itself  is  a  further  indication  of  the  great  change  which  has 
come  over  the  college  world;  for,  a  generation  ago  the 
special  study  of  mission  subjects  was  confined  almost 
exclusively  to  those  students  who,  themselves,  expected 
to  become  foreign  missionaries. 

The  object  of  the  educational  department  of  the  Move- 
ment is  to  stimulate  systematic,  thorough,  and  progressive 
lines  of  study  by  volunteer  bands,  mission  study  classes, 
and  individual  students.  Much  of  the  success  of  this 
department  of  the  work  is  due  to  the  fact  that  for  several 
years  there  has  been  an  educational  secretary  to  devote 
himself  exclusively  to  its  interests.  Mr.  D.  Willard  Lyon 
occupied  this  responsible  post  for  one  year  before  going 
to  China,  and  during  the  eleven  subsequent  years  Mr. 
Harlan  P.  Beach  has  held  the  position.  During  this  period 
the  Movement  has  authorized  the  use  of  thirty-six  differ- 
ent courses  of  mission  study  either  written  or  adapted  for 
use  among  students.  Prior  to  this  there  were  no  mission 
text-books   available.     Seventeen   of   these   courses   have 


been  prepared  entirely  under  the  auspices  of  the  Move- 
ment. Among  the  principal  contributions  to  missionary 
learning  have  been  such  books  as  "The  Geography  and 
Atlas  of  Protestant  Missions,"  "Dawn  on  the  Hills  of 
T'ang,"  and  "India  and  Christian  Opportunity,"  by  Beach  ; 
"Japan  and  Its  Regeneration"  by  Gary;  and  "The  Relig- 
ions of  Mission  Fields  as  Viewed  by  Protestant  Missiona- 
ries" by  different  authors.  Several  of  the  text-books  of 
the  Movement  have  had  a  sale  of  ten  thousand  or  more 
copies  and  three  of  them  a  sale  of  twenty  thousand  or 
more.  The  promotion  of  mission  study  has  greatly  stim- 
ulated reading  on  missions.  This  in  turn  has  led  to  the 
building  up  of  large  collections  of  missionary  books  in 
many  of  the  colleges  and  seminaries.  Without  doubt,  stu- 
dents as  a  class,  in  proportion  to  their  numbers,  constitute 
the  largest  purchasers  and  readers  of  missionary  litera- 
ture. 

There  are  marked  advantages  in  connection  with  this 
mission  study  work.  It  is  developing  an  intelligent  and 
strong  missionary  interest.  It  is  doing  much  to  make 
such  interest  permanent.  It  is  an  invaluable  help  in  pre- 
paring missionary  candidates  for  their  life-work.  It  is 
making  the  conditions  favorable  for  the  multiplying  of 
the  number  of  capable  volunteers.  It  is  developing  right 
habits  of  praying  and  giving  for  missions.  It  is  promot- 
ing reality  in  Christian  experience.  It  is  equipping  those 
who  are  to  become  leaders  at  home  to  be  real  citizens  of  a 
world-wide  kingdom.  When  such  writers  as  Benjamin 
Kidd,  Captain  Mahan,  John  W.  Foster,  and  Professor 
Reinsch  have  emphasized  so  strongly,  on  the  commercial 
and  political  sides  alone,  that  the  leaders  of  our  own  time 
must  know  the  life  of  the  peoples  of  the  non-Christian 
world  and  prepare  to  enter  into  relations  with  them,  it  is 
most  fortunate  that  the  Volunteer  Movement  affords  such 
favorable  facilities  for  accomplishing  this  desired  end. 

Not  a  little  has  been  done  by  the  Movement  to  improve 
the  provision  in  theological  seminaries  for  missionary  in- 
struction. Two  conferences  of  theological  professors  for 
the  discussion  of  this  most  vital  question  were  called  by 
the  Volunteer  Movement.  To  these  special  conferences 
as  well  as  to  the  discussions  in  the  meetings  of  professors 


at  the  international  conventions  are  traceable  some  of 
the  most  important  advance  steps  yet  taken  in  this  direc- 
tion. In  considering  the  great  progress  which  is  now 
being  made  by  the  Young  People's  Missionary  Movement 
and  by  denominational  young  people's  societies,  it  should 
be  noted  that  Mr,  Beach  has  sustained  an  advisory  relation 
to  this  part  of  their  work,  and  their  leaders  bear  testimony 
that  he  has  rendered  indispensable  service.  Similar  tes- 
timony has  also  been  given  by  workers  in  the  women's 
boards  in  connection  with  which  there  has  also  been  marked 
advance  in  the  promotion  of  mission  study.  No  better 
evidence  could  be  given  of  the  real  worth  of  the  splendid 
work  accomplished  by  Mr.  Beach  as  educational  secretary 
than  the  fact  that  Yale  University  has  appointed  him  to 
the  new  professorship  of  the  Theory  and  Practice  of  Mis- 


sions. 


The  Movement  has  sought  to  enlist  the  financial  co- 
operation of  students.     When  it  began  its  work  less  than 
$10,000  a  year  was  being  contributed  toward  missionary 
objects  by  all  the  institutions  of  the  United  States  and 
Canada.     Last  year  25,000  students  and  professors  gave 
over  $80,000,  of  which  $00,000  was  given  to  foreign  mis- 
sions.    This  is  an  increase  of  fifty  per  cent,  over  what  was 
reported  at  the  Toronto  Convention  four  years  ago.     If 
the  members  of  the  various  churches  gave  on  a  correspond- 
ing scale  the  various  mission  boards  would  not  be  troubled 
by  the  financial  problem,  for  that  would  mean  to  them  an 
income  of  over  $50,000,000  a  year.     Seventy  institutions 
gave  $300  or  more  each.     Many  colleges  and  theological 
seminaries  are  now  supporting   entirely  or  in  large  part 
their  own  representative  on  the  foreign  field.     The  grow- 
ing missionary  interest  has   culminated  in   the  organiza- 
tion of  large  mission  enterprises  in  some  of  the  leading 
universities,  such  as  Yale  Mission,  the  Harvard  missionary 
undertaking,   the   Princeton  movement  on   behalf  of  the 
literati  of  China,  and  the  plan  of  the  University  of  Penn- 
sylvania to  build  up  a  medical  college  in  Canton.     As  a 
rule  students  give  toward  some  regular  missionary  object 
and  in  all  cases  are  giving  toward  enterprises  which  have 
the  approval  of  the  mission  boards. 


M 


An  increasing  number  of  the  largest  givers  to  foreign 
missions  in  our  various  churches  trace  their  missionary 
interest  to  the  influence  exerted  upon  them  by  the  Volun- 
teer Movement  during  undergraduate  days.  There  are  a 
great  many  recent  graduates  who  as  a  result  of  this  influ- 
ence are  now  supporting  missionaries  as  their  own  sub- 
stitutes. The  Movement  in  promoting  the  support  of  a 
missionary  by  a  college  or  seminary  has  familiarized  the 
churches  with  the  idea  of  the  support  of  an  individual 
missionary  by  an  individual  congregation.  Hundreds  of 
theological  seminary  graduates,  with  this  object  lesson 
fresh  in  mind,  have  gone  out  into  the  churches  to  lead 
them  to  adopt  a  similar  plan.  The  existence  of  the  Vol- 
unteer Movement  with  its  large  and  increasing  number 
of  intending  missionaries  constitutes  possibly  the  strong- 
est basis  of  appeal  to  the  churches  to  increase  their  gifts 
to  missions.  The  experience  of  the  field  workers  of  the 
different  boards  clearly  establishes  this  point.  It  is  also 
being  used  by  the  Young  People's  Missionary  Movement 
as  an  unanswerable  argument  in  its  work  among  the  mul- 
titude of  young  people  in  the  churches. 

Important  as  has  been  the  work  of  the  Volunteer  Move- 
ment as  an  agency  to  promote  the  evangelization  of  for- 
eign mission  lands,  many  consider  that  it  has  exerted  an 
equally  indispensable  influence  on  the  development  of 
the  best  Christian  life  at  home.  Its  direct  and  indirect 
influence  on  the  religious  life  of  the  student  communities 
has  been  very  great  indeed.  Who  can  measure  its  effect 
on  the  faith  of  the  students  of  this  generation?  It  has 
greatly  strengthened  their  belief  in  the  fundamentals  of 
Christianity.  It  has  enlarged  the  content  of  their  faith 
by  its  contribution  in  the  sphere  of  apologetics.  By 
bringing  before  them  the  difficulties  involved  in  the  evan- 
gelization of  the  world  it  has  exercised  and  developed 
their  faith.  By  bringing  to  their  attention  the  triumphs 
of  Christianity  in  the  most  difficult  fields  it  has  strength- 
ened faith.  By  exhibiting  to  them  the  present  day  power 
of  Christ  among  the  nations  it  has  tended  to  steady  faith 
at  a  period  when  in  the  case  of  so  many  students  the 
foundations  of  belief  are  shaken.  The  marvelous  spirit- 
ual power  of  the  Movement  itself  and  the  intimate  asso- 

15 


elation  it  affords  our  students  with  the  students  of  other 
lands  have  greatly  enlarged  the  reach  of  their  faith. 

The  influence  of  the  Movement  on  the  religious  life  of 
students  is  observable  also  in  the  realm  of  character  as 
well  as  of  faith.  Culture  or  education  for  culture's  sake 
is  not  sufficient.  Education  for  the  development  of  char- 
acter and  the  increase  of  power  to  use  in  the  service  of 
others  is  the  true  conception  which  is  promoted  by  the 
work  of  the  Movement.  The  missionary  spirit  is  the 
spirit  of  Christ  Himself.  Wherever  the  Volunteer  Move- 
ment works  therefore  it  exerts  a  humanizing  and  broad- 
ening influence.  It  promotes  the  spirit  of  brotherhood 
and  unselfishness.  It  develops'the  spirit  of  love  and  com- 
passion for  men  as  a  result  of  inculcating  the  spirit  of 
obedience  to  Christ.  The  Movement  leads  men  to  be  hon- 
est in  dealing  with  evidence.  It  promotes  decision  of  char- 
~  acter.  It  requires  a  life  of  reality.  It  develops  the  heroic 
and  self-sacrificing  spirit  so  much  needed  in  our  time. 
Phillips  Brooks  was  right  in  insisting  that  missions  are 
necessary  for  the  enrichment  and  fulfillment  of  the  Chris- 
tian life.  It  would  be  difficult  to  over-state  the  value  of 
the  service  rendered  by  the  Volunteer  Movement  in  help- 
ing to  counteract  certain  perils  of  student  life  such  as 
selfishness,  intellectual  pride,  tendency  to  growing  luxury 
and  ease,  materialism,  and  skepticism.  In  summoning 
,.  men  to  a  life  of  unselfish,  Christ-like  service  it  is  promot- 
ing the  highest  possible  ideal. 

It  has  tremendously  stimulated  Christian  activity  in 
all  institutions.  Not  least  among  the  causes  of  the  in- 
creasing movement  of  evangelism  in  the  colleges  has  been 
the  Volunteer  Movement.  A  point  often  overlooked  is 
the  place  this  foreign  movement  has  had  in  developing 
the  home  missionary  spirit.  If  Jacob  Riis  is  right  in  his 
contention  that  every  dollar  given  to  foreign  missions 
develops  ten  dollars  worth  of  energy  for  dealing  with  the 
tasks  at  our  own  doors,  the  home  missionary  output  of 
this  organization  through  its  large  consecration  of  life  as 
well  as  of  time,  money,  and  influence  must  have  been 
enormous. 

During  all  these  years  the  secretaries  of  the  Movement 
as  they  have  gone  in  and  out  among  the  colleges  and  semi- 

i6 


naries,  and  conferences  and  conventions,  have  empha- 
sized among  the  students  the  formation  of  right  devotional 
habits.  Who  can  calculate  what  they  have  accomplished 
in  enlisting  thousands  of  young  men  and  women  in  the 
habit  of  unselfishness  and  definiteness  in  prayer,  in  intro- 
ducing them  to  the  best  devotional  literature,  in  induct- 
ing them  into  the  habit  of  daily,  devotional  Bible  study, 
in  leading  them  to  observe  the  Morning  Watch?  Secre- 
taries of  the  Young  Men's  and  Young  Women's  Christian 
Associations  testify  that  the  volunteers  in  many  places 
have  created  an  atmosphere  in  which  men  have  been  en- 
abled better  to  discern  the  will  of  God  and  in  which  they 
have  been  energized  to  be  obedient  to  their  heavenly 
vision.  The  dominant  note  in  all  the  work  of  the  Move- 
ment has  been  the  recognition  of  the  Lordship  of  Jesus 
Christ.  This  one  idea  of  regarding  one's  life  not  as  his 
own,  but  as  belonging  to  Christ  has  without  doubt  done 
more  to  revolutionize  and  transform  the  religious  life  of 
the  colleges  and  theological  seminaries  tlian  any  other  idea 
which  has  been  emphasized  during  the  past  twenty  years. 
The  Volunteer  Movement  early  recognized  that  the 
young  people  of  the  churches  furnish  an  ideal  field  for  a 
successful  propaganda  in  the  interest  of  enlisting  workers 
and  supporters.  Within  a  year  after  the  Volunteer  Move- 
ment was  inaugurated  the  volunteers  began  to  work 
among  the  young  people  in  the  churches.  As  far  back  as 
189D  the  secretaries  of  one  of  the  leading  mission  boards 
sent  a  letter  to  the  Executive  Committee  expressing  ap- 
preciation of  the  work  done  by  the  volunteers  to  kindle 
missionary  spirit  in  the  young  people's  societies  and 
churches.  At  the  first  convention  of  the  Movement  held 
in  Cleveland  in  1891  one  of  the  seven  points  of  policy 
announced  by  the  Executive  Committee  was  the  follow- 
ing: "Recognizing  the  wonderful  possibilities  of  the 
various  young  people's  societies  of  the  day,  the  Volunteer 
Movement  shall  seek  to  spread  the  missionary  spirit  among 
them.  It  is  believed  that  these  two  movements  are  des- 
tined to  sustain  a  very  important  relation  to  each  other." 
From  that  year  onward  an  increasing  number  of  volunteer 
bands  and  of  other  earnest  companies  of  Christian  stu- 


'7 


dents  have  devoted  themselves  to  developing  missionary- 
interest  among  various  classes  of  young  people. 

The   first  organized  effort  on   a   denominational  scale 
was  that  carried  on  under  the  leadership  of  Dr.  F.  C.  Ste- 
phenson,   a    Canadian    Methodist    volunteer,    among    and 
through    the    students    of    his    own    denomination.     The 
effort  which  he  inaugurated  in  1895  has  continued  to  go 
from  strength  to  strength  and  has  been  one  of  the  most 
effective  object   lessons    for  other  denominations.     About 
the  same  time  Mr.  F.  S.  Brockman,  one  of  the  leaders  of 
the  Movement,  without  knowledge  of  the  good  work  being 
done  on  these  lines  in  Canada,  was  so  impressed  with  the 
possibilities    of    awakening    missionary     interest    among 
young  people  that  he  decided  to  give  special  attention  to 
developing  these  possibilities.     He  devoted  much  of  his 
time  and  attention  for  two  years  as  the  representative  of 
the  Movement  in  inaugurating  a  similar  campaign  in  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  and  in  facilitating  like  efforts 
in   several    other    denominations.     After   Mr.    Brockman 
went  to  China  Mr.  S.  Earl  Taylor  represented  the  Move- 
ment in  carrying  forward  the  work  to  a  higher  stage  of 
development.     This  kind  of  work  for  a  time  was  charac- 
terized  as    the   student   missionary    campaign,    by    which 
was  meant  an  organized  effort  by  students  both  volun- 
teers and  non-volunteers  to  communicate  to  the  churches 
through    the   young   people   their  missionary    knowledge, 
enthusiasm,  and    consecration,   as   well    as    to    introduce 
among  them  their  practical  methods  and  agencies.     Many 
denominational   enterprises   of  this   kind   were   thus   pro- 
moted directly  and  indirectly  by  the  Volunteer  Movement. 
Some  of  the  most  successful  were  carried  on  by  individual 
bands,  such  as  the  Yale  Band,  and  the  bands  of  Denison 
University,   Northwestern   University,   and  Wooster  Uni- 
versity.    In  the  first  stages,  the  work  of  developing  this 
kind  of  activity  in  the  different  denominations  and  among 
the  various  bands  was  financed  largely  by  the  Volunteer 
Movement.     Two  conferences  of  leaders  of  such  activities 
in  the  different  denominations  were  called  and  conducted 
by  the  Movement  in  1899  and  1900. 

All  along,  however,  it  has  been  the  policy  of  the  Exec- 
utive Committee  not  to  take  on  such  work  as  a  permanent 

i8 


feature  of  the  Volunteer  Movement,  but  to  encourage  its 
organization  as  an  independent  movement  working  on 
parallel  lines  to  the  Volunteer  Movement  either  in  the 
different  denominations  or  as  an  interdenominational 
arrangement.  The  organization  in  July,  1902,  of  the 
Young  People's  Missionary  Movement  was  regarded,  there- 
fore, as  clearly  providential.  This  comprehensive,  inter- 
denominational agency  has  the  responsibility  for  the  cul- 
tivation of  the  missionary  spirit  among  all  classes  of  young 
people  apart  from  those  in  the  student  field.  It  is  under 
the  direction  of  a  committee  composed  of  representatives 
of  the  missionary  societies.  It  holds  summer  conferences, 
conducts  missionary  institutes  at  metropolitan  centers, 
promotes  mission  study,  prepares  suitable  programs  and 
literature  for  Sunday-schools  and  young  people's  organi- 
zations, issues  and  promotes  the  circulation  of  missionary 
text-books  and  effective  leaflets,  and  organizes  and  con- 
ducts missionary  exhibits.  Its  leaders  and  those  of  the 
Volunteer  Movement  are  in  close  consultation  with  each 
other  and  are  seeking  in  all  ways  within  their  power  to 
strengthen  each  other's  hands.  The  fact  that  the  leaders 
of  the  Young  People's  Missionary  Movement  and  of  the 
different  denominational  missionary  activities  among  the 
young  have  come  so  largely  from  the  ranks  of  the  student 
movement  ensures  the  highest  degree  of  unity  and  co-opera- 
tion. The  possibilities  of  the  Young  People's  Missionary 
Movement  are  simply  boundless.  If  its  campaign  can  be 
adequately  waged,  within  fifteen  years  the  entire  church 
or  Nurth  America  will  be  flooded  with  the  missionary 
spirit.  This  in  turn  will  make  possible  the  going  forth  of 
the  large  number  of  recruits  to  be  raised  up  by  the  Volun- 
teer Movement  to  meet  the  great  need  of  our  generation 
in  the  non-Christian  world. 

Apart  from  furnishing  recruits  for  the  foreign  fie  d  and 
intelligent  leaders  of  the  missionary  forces  of  the  Church 
at  home,  apart  likewise  from  stimulating  the  missionary 
spirit  among  the  hosts  of  young  people,  the  Volunteer 
Movement  has  exerted  a  great  influence  upon  the  Church 
as  a  whole.  The  very  fact  of  the  existence  of  such  a 
Movement,  uniting  the  coming  leaders  of  the  aggressive 
forces  of  Christianity,  has  appealed  to  the  imagination  of 

19 


y 


the  Church.  The  cosmopolitan  sweep  and  growing  mo- 
mentum and  spiritual  power  of  the  enterprise  has  given 
an  impression  of  its  providential  character.  Christians 
have  been  encouraged  by  the  sight  of  such  a  comprehen- 
sive and  aggressive  league  to  believe  in  the  possibility  of 
making  the  knowledge  of  Christ  accessible  to  all  mankind 
in  our  generation.  The  Movement  has  presented  an  irre- 
sistible challenge  to  the  churches.  Dr.  Cuthbert  Hall,  in 
writing  recently  to  the  Bombay  Guardian  regarding  the 
Church  at  home  said,  "There  is  an  advance  toward  the 
world-view  in  certain  sections  of  the  Church.  I  attribute 
the  advance,  very  largely,  to  the  indirect  influence  of  the 
Student  Volunteer  Movement.  Our  universities  and  col- 
leges are  getting  the  world-view.  They  are  becoming 
impregnated  with  the  spirit  of  missions.  A  reflex  influ- 
ence, radiating  from  university  life,  is  smiting  with  new 
earnestness  the  occupants  of  many  a  pulpit  and  many  a 
pew." 

Although  this  Movement  has  spanned  but  two  decades, 
it  has  exerted  a  large  influence  in  promoting  Christian 
unity  and  co-operation  among  various  bodies  of  Christians. 
Uniting  as  it  does,  so  many  of  the  future  leaders  of  the 
Church  who  have  spent  from  four  to  seven  years  or  more  in 
the  most  intimate  spiritual  fellowship  and  united  Christian 
service  in  student  life,  it  is  not  strange  that  this  should  be 
true.  These  workers  going  forth  to  the  foreign  field  after 
being  so  closely  united  during  the  years  of  preparation,  do 
not  lose  touch  with  each  other.  The  bonds  of  mutual 
esteem  and  allection  still  unite  them.  Animated  in  their 
most  plastic  years  by  a  common  life  purpose  and  spirit, 
familiar  with  each  other's  points  of  view,  and  accustomed 
to  grapple  together  with  difficult  tasks,  they  would  find 
it  hard,  if  not  impossible,  not  to  stand  together  in  the 
great  conflict  at  the  front.  Face  to  face  with  the  power-  ' 
fully  entrenched  forces  of  the  non-Christian  religions,  they 
recognize  even  more  clearly  than  they  could  have  done  in 
the  home  lands  that  nothing  short  of  unity  of  spirit  and 
effort  can  hope  to  prevail.  Therefore,  we  observe  in  sev- 
eral of  the  principal  mission  fields  of  the  world  the  attract- 
ive and  inspiring  spectacle  of  concerted  effort  on  the  part 
of  the  volunteers  who  have  gone  out  to  represent  the 


different  churches  of  the  United   States,   Canada,'  Great 
Britain,  the  Continent  of  Europe,  and  Australasia. 

Already  in  Japan  and  China  these  volunteers  from  the 
countries  of  Christendom  have  organized  national  unions 
to  promote  Christian  fellowship,  united  prayer,  associated 
study  of  problems,  and  practical  comity  and  co-operation. 
Although   the  volunteers  are  still  in  the  minority  in  the 
different  mission  fields,  they  are  wielding  an  infiuence  out 
of    all    proportion    to    their    numbers.     What    they    have 
accomphshed  to  deepen  the  spiritual  life  of  workers,  both 
native  and  foreign,  through  interdenominational  confer- 
ences has  in  itself  been  a  service  of  such  importance  as  to 
call  forth   most  hearty   expressions  of  appreciation   from 
many  of  the  oldest  missionaries.     Under  the  influence  of 
these  united  volunteers,  in  common  with  other  causes  at 
work,   the  idea  of  Christian   unity   has  been  much   more 
fully  reahzed  on   the  mission  field  than  at  home.     Even 
greater  progress  would  have  been  made  abroad  had  it  not 
been  for  the  denominational  ambitions  and  lack  of  vision 
of  some  of  the  home  churches.     As  was  clearly  brought 
out  in  the  recent  Inter-Church  Conference  on  Federation, 
the  mission  fields  have  much  to  teach  the  home  churches 
in  the  practice  of  Chnstian  imity  and  co-operation.     The 
good  that  has  been  accomplished  is  a  ground  for  great 
gratitude  and  confirms  the  prophetic  words  of  Dr.  Temple, 
the  late  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  who  said,  "The  recog- 
nition of  the  common  task  imposed  upon  every  variety  of 
Christian  belief  will  be  likely  indeed  to  do  more  to  bring  us 
all  into  one  than  any  other  endeavor  that  we  may  make." 
In  some  ways,  the  largest  multiplication  of  the  influence 
of  the  Volunteer  Movement  has  been  its  extension  to  the 
students  of  other  lands.     It  first  spread  as  an  organized 
enterprise  to  the  universities  and  colleges  of  the  British 
Isles  under  the  leadership  of  Mr.  Robert  P.  Wilder,  one  of 
the  founders  of  the  Movement.     It  was  next  transplanted 
to  South  Africa  by  one  of  the  American  women  volunteers, 
although  it  did  not  assume  large  proportions  in  that  part 
of  the  worid  until  the  memorable  visit  of  Mr.  Donald  Eraser 
and  Mr.  Luther  D.  Wishard  in  1896.     The  leaders  of  the 
British  movement,  particulariy  Mr.   Eraser,  transplanted 
the  volunteer  idea  to  the  universities  of  Erance,  Switzer- 


land,  Germany,  Holland,  and  Scandinavia.  The  inter- 
national volunteer  conventions  held  in  Great  Britain  have 
exerted  an  immense  influence  upon  the  further  develop- 
ment of  missionary  life  and  activity  on  the  Continent. 

While  none  of  the  Volunteer  Unions  on  the  Continent  are 
very  large,  they  represent  a  great  advance,  especially  when 
the  baffling  difficulties  of  that  part  of  the  student  field  are 
borne  in  mind.  A  member  of  the  Executive  Committee 
of  the  American  Movement  organized  the  Volunteer  Move- 
ment among  the  universities  of  Australia  and  New  Zealand 
in  1896.  Thus  there  are  now  Volunteer  Movements  organ- 
ized among  the  students  in  all  parts  of  Christendom.  Of 
all  the  Volunteer  Unions  in  other  lands,  without  doubt  not 
only  the  largest,  but  also  the  strongest,  is  that  of  the  British 
Isles.  This  Union  has  accomplished  as  large,  if  not  larger, 
results  in  proportion  to  the  number  of  its  members  than 
has  our  own  Movement.  One  of  the  most  significant  steps 
in  the  enterprise  of  world  evangelism  was  the  transplanting 
of  the  volunteer  idea  to  the  schools  and  colleges  of  the 
Levant,  India,  Ceylon,  China,  and  Japan,  during  the  years 
1895  to  1897.  This  also  was  accomplished  by  one  of  the 
workers  of  the  Volunteer  Movement.  As  a  result  of  this 
action  the  Christian  students  of  the  Orient  join  hands  with 
the  Christian  students  of  the  Occident  in  the  effort  to 
establish  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  in  all  the  world.  The 
student  Christian  movements  in  non-Christian  lands  in 
helping  to  raise  up  an  army  of  native  workers  are  striking 
at  the  heart  of  the  problem  of  missions,  because,  if  Christi- 
anity is  to  be  rapidly  and  firmly  established  in  these  lands, 
there  must  be  not  only  an  adequate  staff  of  foreign  mis- 
sionaries but  also  strong,  resourceful,  self-propagating 
native  churches. 

It  is  a  well-known  fact  that  in  all  countries  where  the 
Volunteer  Movement  is  established  there  is  a  larger  and 
more  comprehensive  student  movement  corresponding  to 
the  Student  Young  Men's  and  Young  Women's  Christian 
Associations  of  North  America.  It  embraces  in  each  coun- 
try not  only  volunteers,  but  also  a  much  larger  number  of 
students  who  are  not  volunteers.  It  cultivates  the  whole 
range  of  Christian  life  and  work  among  students.  It  is 
significant  that  the  Student  Volunteer  Movement  in  several 


of  these  countries,  especially  in  Great  Britain,  on  the  Con- 
tinent, in  South  Africa,  and  in  a  measure,  in  Asia,  pioneered 
the  way  for  the  larger  and  more  comprehensive  enterprise. 
This  John  the  Baptist  service  should  not  be  overlooked  in 
any  estimate  of  the  achievements  of  the  Volunteer  Move- 
ment. 

In  1895  there  was  formed  the  World's  Student  Christian 
Federation  which  now  embraces  all  Christian  student 
movements  and  societies  of  the  different  nations  and  races. 
Under  the  influence  of  the  Volunteer  Movement  one  of  its 
three  principal  purposes  is  the  missionary  purpose.  The 
study  of  the  formation  and  development  of  this  world-wide 
Federation  of  students  makes  plain  that  the  missionary  idea 
has  had  a  larger  federative  and  unifying  power  than  any 
other  influence  save  the  uplifted  Christ.  It  is  no  mere 
coincidence  that  in  the  very  generation  which  has  seen  the 
whole  world  made  open  and  accessible  and  the  nations 
and  races  drawn  so  closely  together  by  the  influence  of 
commerce,  there  has  been  created  this  world-wide  student 
brotherhood.  God  has  been  aligning  the  forces  for  a  move- 
ment of  such  magnitude  as  the  world  has  never  known  in 
all  the  centuries. 

One  of  the  mightiest  factors  in  the  influence  exerted  by 
the  Volunteer  Movement  has  been  the  proclamation  of  its 
Watchword,  '  The  Evangelization  of  the  World  in  This 
Generation."  This  has  been  sounded  out  with  convincing 
force  by  the  workers  of  the  Movement  for  twenty  years  in 
conferences  and  conventions,  in  institutes  and  summer 
schools,  in  books  and  pamphlets,  in  public  addresses  and 
private  interviews.  The  exposition,  defence,  and  advo-  - 
cacy  of  this  great  ideal  has  had  a  great  effect  in  shaping 
the  convictions  and  purposes  of  the  students  of  our  time 
and  has  begun  to  influence  powerfully  the  missionary  life 
and  policy  of  the  Church.  When  it  was  first  proclaimed, 
nearly  twenty  years  ago,  it  met  with  distrust,  unsympa- 
thetic questionings,  and  much  opposition.  Year  by  )'car 
it  has  been  received  with  increasing  favor.  From  the 
beginning,  among  its  strongest  advocates  have  been  the 
missionaries,  board  secretaries,  and  travelers  who  are 
among  those  best  acquainted  with  the  real  difficulties 
involved  in  the  world's  evangelization. 

23 


Some  of  the  greatest  missionary  conferences  held  on  the 
foreign  field  during  the  past  ten  years  have  emphasized 
the  central  idea  of  the  Watchword.  The  appeal  issued  by 
the  great  ecumenical  missionary  conference  in  New  York 
in  1900,  said,  '  We  who  live  now  and  have  this  message 
must  carry  it  to  those  who  live  now  and  are  without  it. 
It  is  the  duty  of  each  generation  of  Christians  to  make 
Jesus  Christ  known  to  their  fellow  creatures."  The  most 
inlluential  bodies  of  Christians  in  the  British  Isles  such 
as  the  Lambeth  Conference  of  Bishops  of  the  Anglican 
Communion  have  endorsed  this  Watchword.  The  deliver- 
ances of  these  influential  conferences  and  conventions  held 
in  America,  England,  and  Asia  are  traceable  directly  to 
the  agitation  carried  on  by  the  volunteers.  One  of  the 
most  conservative  and  etiective  denominations  in  America, 
the  United  Presbyterian  Church,  has  virtually  made  the 
carrying  out  of  the  idea  of  this  Watchword  a  part  of  its 
missionary  policy,  so  far  as  the  parts  of  the  non-Christian 
world  to  which  it  as  a  denomination  is  providentially 
related,  are  concerned.  This  step  was  taken  by  its  General 
Assembly  after  prolonged  discussion  preceded  by  a  thor- 
ough consideration  on  the  part  of  its  missions  on  the  foreign 
field  of  the  problems  involved.  It  is  believed  that  other 
denominations  in  this  and  other  Christian  lands  are  more 
and  more  coming  to  shape  their  policies  in  accordance  with 
this  great  objective. 

Among  the  principal  benefits  of  such  a  Watchword  is 
the  power  that  it  exerts  in  the  life  of  the  individual  student 
who  adopts  it  as  a  personal  Watchword,  thus  letting  it 
govern  his  life  plans  and  determine  the  use  he  makes  of 
his  time,  money,  nervous  energy,  and  opportunities.  It 
widens  and  enriches  his  sympathy.  It  exercises  and 
strengthens  his  faith.  It  throws  him  back  on  the  super- 
natural resources.  It  lends  intensity  to  life.  It  necessi- 
tates a  life  of  reality.  It  promotes  the  spirit  of  self-denial 
and  heroism.  It  imparts  vision.  Comparatively  weak 
indeed  would  have  been  the  spirit  and  faith  of  the  Volun- 
teer Movement  without  this  ideal.  Eliminate  this  element 
of  urgency,  which  so  markedly  characterized  the  life  of  our 
Lord  and  the  practice  of  the  early  Christians,  from  the 
Volunteer  Movement,   and   its  achievements  would  have 

24 


been  insignificant  in  comparison  with  what  has  been 
accomplished.  If  tens  of  thousands  of  Christian  students 
and  hundreds  of  thousands  of  the  other  members  of  the 
churches  could  have  given  this  Watchword  right  of  way 
in  their  lives  as  many  of  the  members  of  this  Movement 
have  done,  what  marvels  might  not  have  been  accomplished 
during  the  past  twenty  years  in  hastening  the  extension  of 
the  Kingdom  of  Christ  in  the  world. 

In  no  way  can  we  reahze  more  fully  the  great  change 
wrought  in  the  missionary  life  of  the  student  field  of  North 
America  through  the  influence  of  the  Volunteer  Move- 
ment, than  by  contrasting  the  situation  as  it  was  twenty 
years  ago  before  the  Movement  was  inaugurated  with  that 
of  the  present  time.  Then,  in  hundreds  of  colleges  and 
other  institutions  of  higher  learning,  including  many  of 
the  leading  universities  of  this  continent,  the  claims  of 
world-wide  missions  were  never  brought  before  the 
students;  now,  there  is  scarcely  an  institution  of  prom- 
inence in  either  the  United  States  or  Canada  in  which  the 
facts  of  missions  in  their  relation  to  educated  young  men 
and  women  are  not  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  under- 
graduates of  each  student  generation.  Then,  interest  in 
the  world-wide  program  of  Christ  was  confined  almost 
exclusively  to  the  theological  seminaries  and  a  few  scores 
of  denominational  colleges  and  with  the  exception  of  a  few 
medical  student  centers  was  a  matter  of  concern  chiefly 
to  those  expecting  to  enter  the  ministry;  now,  the  mis- 
sionary spirit  is  as  strong  in  state  and  undenominational 
institutions  as  in  most  of  the  Christian  colleges,  and  stu- 
dents of  all  faculties  or  departments  of  learning  alike  are 
recognizing  their  common  opportunity  and  responsibility 
for  spreading  the  knowledge  of  Christ  throughout  the  world. 
Then,  the  attitude  of  students  toward  missions  was  as  a 
rule  apologetic  or  indifferent;  now,  wherever  the  Volunteer 
Movement  is  well  established  it  is  one  of  growing  interest 
and  practical  co-operation. 

Then,  there  were  not  more  than  a  dozen  collections  of 
up-to-date  missionary  books  accessible  to  students;  now, 
there  are  several  hundreds  of  missionary  libraries  in  the 
colleges  and  seminaries.  Then,  there  was  no  such  thing 
as  the  scientific  and  progressive  study  of  missions  carried 

25 


on  in  connection  with  the  Christian  societies  of  students; 
now,  as  we  have  seen,  more  than  12,000  students  in  over 
1,000  groups  with  capable  leaders  are  carrying  forward 
such  studies  under  the  guidance  of  a  highly  developed 
educational  department  at  the  New  York  office  and  have 
access  to  well-nigh  two  scores  of  systematic  courses  of 
printed  studies  prepared  primarily  for  use  among  students. 
Then,  there  was  no  literature  devoted  to  the  methods  and 
means  of  developing  missionary  life  and  activity;  now, 
there  are  many  booklets  and  pamphlets  on  such  subjects 
written  for  use  in  student  communities.  Then,  with  the 
exception  of  a  series  of  effective  conferences  confined  strictly 
to  theological  students  there  were  no  student  missionary 
gatherings ;  now,  year  by  year,  at  thirteen  sectional  student 
conferences  the  college  men  and  women  of  different  parts 
of  North  America  gather  for  ten  days  to  consider  among 
other  things  the  world-wide  interests  of  Christ's  Kingdom, 
and  once  each  student  generation  assemble  in  a  great  inter- 
national convention  over  3,000  strong  to  view  together  the 
great  battle-fields  of  the  Church  and  to  take  counsel  as  to 
the  most  successful  prosecution  of  the  world-wide  war. 

Then,  there  was  not  one  person  devoting  his  entire  time 
to  planting  and  developing  the  missionary  idea  among 
students;  now,  the  Volunteer  Movement  has  never  less 
than  ten  secretaries  in  the  field  and  at  the  headquarters 
devoting  themselves  exclusively  to  serving  the  missionary 
interests  of  the  colleges  and  seminaries.  Then,  in  only  a 
handful  of  colleges  were  students  helping  missions  finan- 
cially;  now,  in  over  300  different  institutions  there  are 
growing  financial  enterprises  on  behalf  of  the  world's  evan- 
gelization and  many  institutions  are  supporting  their  own 
missionaries.  Thousands  of  young  men  and  women  are 
going  out  from  the  colleges  each  year  on  graduation  to 
throw  themselves  into  the  great  work  of  developing,  under 
the  leadership  of  the  Young  People's  Missionary  Move- 
ment, among  the  millions  of  members  in  the  young  people's 
societies  and  in  the  Sunday-schools,  an  adequate  financial 
constituency  to  sustain  the  growing  army  of  student  volun- 
teers. 

Then,  only  the  most  pronouncedly  Christian  institu- 
tions were  furnishing  missionary  candidates;    now,  volvm- 

26 


teers  are  forthcoming  from  nearly  all  institutions  of  higher 
learning,  and,  as  has  been  stated,  taking  the  student  field 
as  a  whole,  the  proportion  of  missionary  candidates  is  five 
times  as  great  in  the  colleges  and  twice  as  great  in  the 
seminaries  as  it  was  twenty  years  ago.  Then,  there  was 
no  missionary  organization  binding  together  missionary 
candidates;  now,  we  have  the  Student  Volunteer  Move- 
ment for  Foreign  Missions  organically  related  to  similar 
Volunteer  Unions  in  other  countries  of  Protestant  Christ- 
endom and  in  the  principal  non-Christian  nations,  all 
bound  together  through  the  more  comprehensive  Christian 
student  societies  of  the  different  lands  by  the  World's 
Student  Christian  Federation,  which  embraces  nearly  2,000 
student  religious  organizations  with  a  membership  of 
105,000  students  and  professors  in  forty  countries.  Then, 
there  was  no  great  unifying  objective;  now,  the  student 
world  has  as  an  inspiring  ideal  to  call  out  its  heroic  devo- 
tion and  self-sacrificing  zeal,  the  noble  and  apostolic  pur- 
pose, the  evangelization  of  the  world  in  this  generation. 

Great  as  have  been  the  encouragements  in  the  pathway 
of  the  work  of  the  Volunteer  Movement  during  the  first 
two  decades  of  its  history,  far  greater  things  will  be  required 
of  it  in  the  new  decade  upon  which  we  now  enter.  We  are 
summoned  to  tasks  of  the  greatest  difficulty  and  of  the 
most  vital  importance  to  the  Kingdom.  First  of  all  we 
are  called  upon  to  raise  up  a  much  greater  number  of  cap- 
able missionary  recruits.  Let  us  never  forget  that  the 
continued  strength  of  the  Movement  lies  in  its  appeal  for 
life. 

The  need  of  more  volunteers  is  convincing.  Several 
mission  boards  are  calling  for  a  larger  number  of  candidates 
than  are  now  available.  Interviews  with  the  secretaries 
of  the  boards  reveal  the  fact  that  their  requirements  are 
sure  to  increase  rather  than  diminish.  There  must  be  a 
growing  supply  to  meet  this  growing  demand.  Hundreds 
of  mission  stations  are  seriously  undermanned.  If  this 
situation  continues  it  means  overwork,  imperfect  work, 
lost  opportunities.  Nearly  every  missionary  has  large  plans 
for  extension.  As  a  rule  their  demands  are  supported  by 
the  most  telling  evidence.  There  are  still  vast  regions 
including   hundreds   of   millions   of   people   which   require 

27 


pioneer  work.  The  need  of  men  in  these  regions  as  well 
as  in  fields  partially  occupied,  is  not  only  extensive  but 
intensive  and  this  intensive  need  is  indescribably  great. 
To  those  who  have  hearts  of  compassion  and  who  actually 
know  the  facts  from  first-hand  knowledge  this  need  con- 
stitutes the  great  pathetic  fact  of  the  world.  The  calls 
from  large  bodies  of  missionaries  should  in  themselves 
command  a  large  response  on  our  part.  Let  us  never  for- 
get the  strong  appeal  issued  by  the  Decennial  Missionary 
Conference  held  at  Madras  in  December,  1902,  in  some 
ways  the  most  weighty  body  of  missionaries  ever  assembled, 
calling  upon  the  churches  of  Christendom  to  send  out  to 
India  as  soon  as  practicable  9,000  additional  missionaries. 
Remember  also  the  call  from  the  responsible  missionary 
leaders  of  China  two  years  ago  asking  the  Christians  of 
the  home  lands  to  double  the  staff  of  missionaries  in  China 
by  the  time  of  the  Morrison  Centennial  in  1907.  We  as 
students  should  be  peculiarly  responsive  to  the  appeal  for 
large  reinforcements  which  reached  us  a  little  over  a  year 
ago  signed  by  the  names  of  343  of  the  volunteers  of  North 
America,  Europe,  and  Australasia  now  working  in  the 
Chinese  Empire.  The  fact  that  the  spiritual  tide  is  rising 
in  every  great  mission  field  and  the  enterprise  of  missions 
has  begun  to  yield  on  such  a  large  scale  suggests  a  special 
reason  why  we  should  press  our  present  unprecedented 
advantage.  To  a  degree  not  heretofore  experienced  this 
is  a  time  of  great  crisis  in  some  of  the  principal  fields. 
For  example,  in  all  the  history  of  Christianity  when  has 
there  been  a  more  momentous  crisis  than  the  one  now  con- 
fronting the  Church  in  the  Far  East  in  the  light  of  the 
Russo-Japanese  war?  And  let  us  bear  in  mind  that  a 
great  offering  of  the  best  lives  of  our  colleges  and  semi- 
naries from  year  to  year  is  absolutely  indispensable  to  the 
best  welfare  of  the  United  States  and  Canada.  Without 
such  real  sacrifice  we  cannot  hope  to  preserve  spiritual  life, 
a  pure  faith,  and  a  conquering  spirit.  "The  army  which 
remains  in  its  entrenchments  is  beaten." 

Reasons  like  these  for  a  great  and  growing  army  of 
volunteers  impose  a  tremendous  responsibility  on  the 
Volunteer  Movement.  In  view  of  our  providential  mis- 
sion, in  view  of  God's  dealings  with  us  in  the  years  that 

28 


are  gone  we  cannot  escape  this  responsibility  if  we  would. 
And  the  task  should  not  stagger  the  faith  of  any  of  us. 
This  is  apparent  when  we  remember  that  it  would  take 
only  one  of  every  twenty  Christian  students  who  are  to 
graduate  from  the  institutions  of  higher  learning  of  the 
United  States  and  Canada  during  the  next  twenty  years  to 
furnish  a  sufficient  number  of  new  missionaries  to  make 
possible  a  large  enough  staff  to  accomplish  the  evangeliza- 
tion of  the  world  in  this  generation,  so  far  as  this  under- 
taking depends  upon  foreign  missionaries. 

We  can  readily  obtain  the  numbers  of  workers  required 
to  meet  all  providential  calls  upon  us  if  we  will  but  multi- 
ply and  faithfully  employ  the  agencies  which  have  already 
proved  so  effective.  An  expansion  and  deepening  of  our 
educational  work,  a  wiser  use  of  our  large  opportunities 
at  the  many  student  conferences,  a  considerable  enlarge- 
ment of  our  traveling  secretarial  stafT,  a  general  acceptance 
on  the  part  of  all  volunteers  of  the  solemn  responsibility 
resting  upon  them  for  securing  new  recruits,  the  continued 
conservative  yet  confident  aggressive  use  of  the  volunteer 
declaration,  the  deepening  of  the  spirtiual  life  of  the  col- 
leges and  seminaries  by  a  great  expansion  of  the  Bible 
study  activities,  the  calling  forth  of  more  intercession  for 
laborers  on  the  part  of  the  Christian  students  in  general 
and  of  the  pastors  of  the  churches,  the  encouragement  in 
every  way  in  our  power  of  the  Young  People's  Missionary 
Movement  in  its  essential  work  of  preparing  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  the  youth  before  they  enter  colleges  for  the  days 
of  missionary  decision — the  unwearied  use  of  these  and 
other  means  will  as  surely  result  in  giving  us  all  the  mis- 
sionary candidates  needed  as  the  operation  of  any  other 
well-known  laws. 

In  all  this  work  of  enlisting  new  recruits  we  should 
continue  to  stand  for  quality.  The  ultimate  success 
of  the  missionary  enterprise  does  not  depend  prima- 
rily on  vast  numbers  of  missionaries  so  much  as  upon 
thoroughly  furnished  missionaries.  For  the  very  reason 
that  our  Watchword  requires  haste  we,  above  all  oth- 
ers, should  insist  on  the  most  thorough  preparation  ' 
and  training  of  workers,  knowing  full  well  that  this  will 
save  time  in  the  long  run  and  enormously  increase  the 

29 


fruitage.  Let  it  be  reiterated  in  this  Convention  as  it  has 
been  in  all  preceding  conventions  that  our  great  need  is 
not  that  of  volunteers  who  will  go  when  they  are  drafted, 
but  of  those  who  will  press  through  the  hindrances  not  of 
God  to  the  work  and  place  which  He  has  appointed. 

Next  to  the  demand  for  more  volunteers  of  capacity  is 
the  need  of  young  men  and  young  women  who,  being 
providentially  detained,  stay  at  home  for  the  express 
purpose  of  developing  on  this  continent  the  strongest 
possible  base  for  the  adequate  maintenance  of  this  gigantic 
world-wide  campaign  of  evangelism.  To  stay  for  any 
lower  reason  will  defeat  the  object  of  the  Movement  and 
prevent  the  largest  expansion  of  the  lives  of  those  who 
thus  hold  aloof  from  carrying  out  tlie  comprehensive  and 
sublime  purposes  of  Christ  for  His  Kingdom  in  the  hearts 
of  men.  All  students  should  be  ambitious  to  exercise  the 
rights  and  responsibilities  of  world  citizenship.  There 
should  be  no  exception  among  those  who  are  to  work  in 
North  America  as  to  taking  the  Watchword  of  this  Move- 
ment as  the  governing  principle  of  their  lives. 

We  should  all  associate  our  efforts  to  increase  from 
among  those  whom  God  does  not  call  to  be  missionaries 
the  number  of  young  men  of  large  ability  and  genuine 
consecration  who  will  devote  themselves  to  the  Christian 
ministry.  No  class  of  people  should  be  more  concerned 
with  multiplying  the  number  of  efhcient  ministers  than 
the  leaders  and  members  of  the  Volunteer  Movement; 
for  without  an  adequate  leadership  of  the  130, UOO  or 
more  parishes  of  the  various  Protestant  churches  of  the 
United  States  and  Canada  it  is  an  idle  dream  to  talk  about 
evangelizing  the  world  in  this  generation. 

Those  who  are  not  providentially  led  into  missionary 
service  or  into  the  ministry  should  devote  themselves 
with  as  much  earnestness  and  self-sacrifice  and  life-long 
persistence  to  the  promotion  of  the  missionary  campaign 
as  do  those  who  are  separated  by  the  Holy  Spirit  unto  these 
two  callings.  We  must  have  thousands  of  earnest  young 
men  and  young  women  passing  out  of  the  colleges  each 
V  year  into  positions  of  lay  leadership  in  the  forces  of  the 
Church.  If  in  some  way  during  the  next  two  years  ten 
thousand  of  the  choicest  Christian  spirits  of  our  colleges 

30 


could  be  led  to  specialize  on  the  promotion  of  missionary 
life  and  activity  among  young  people,  it  would  take  far 
less  than  one  generation  to  bring  up  the  forces  of  the  home 
Church  to  the  point  of  maintaining  as  large  a  campaign 
as  that  required  for  the  realization  of  the  Watchword. 
There  is  no  unworked  lead  which  will  for  a  moment  com- 
pare in  financial  and  spiritual  possibilities  for  world-wide 
missions  with  that  of  the  20,000,000  children  and  youth 
in  the  Sunday-schools  and  various  Christian  societies  of 
young  people  in  the  United  States  and  Canada.  May 
God  give  the  delegates  of  this  Convention,  and  the  tens  of 
thousands  of  Christian  students  whom  they  can  influence, 
vision  to  recognize  and  undiscourageable  purpose  and  en- 
thusiasm to  exploit  this  marvelous  lead. 

There  is  need  of  laying  hold  with  a  far  more  masterly 
hand  on  the  student  field  of  North  America  and  cultivat- 
ing it  with  such  thoroughness  as  to  realize  more  fully  its 
missionary  possibilities.  What  has  been  said  about  the 
achievements  of  the  Volunteer  Movement  and  the  Young 
Men's  and  Young  Women's  Christian  Associations  may 
seem  to  some  like  boasting,  but  these  achievements  when 
placed  in  contrast  with  what  ought  to  have  been  done, 
what  might  have  been  done,  what  ought  to  be  done,  and 
what  can  be  done,  are  meager  and  unsatisfactory  indeed. 
No  one  recognizes  the  shortcomings  and  sins  of  omission 
and  commission  of  these  organizations  more  keenly  than 
do  their  leaders.  Well  may  they  and  their  members 
humble  themselves  before  God  as  they  reflect  on  how 
poorly  they  have  discharged  their  great  trust.  May  such 
humiliation  be  so  genuine  as  to  make  it  possible  for 
God  to  trust  them  with  continued  opportunity,  that  there 
may  be  more  efficient  and  fruitful  service  rendered  in  the 
decade  before  us  than  in  the  two  which  have  passed. 

The  students  of  a  nation  offer  an  unparalleled  field  for 
any  noble  propaganda.  Their  minds  are  impressionable, 
generous,  and  open.  The  special  training  which  they  are 
receiving  prepares  them  for  holding  a  vastly  dispropor- 
tionate share  of  the  positions  of  leadership  in  the  affairs 
of  men.  The  student  held  of  North  America  is  ripe  for 
far  larger  missionary  harvests.  What  has  been  actually 
accomplished    in    certain    denominational    colleges,    state 

3> 


institutions,  and  theological  seminaries  shows  what  might 
be  done  if  the  causes  which  account  for  the  large  fruitage 
in  these  institutions  are  but  made  operative  in  all  the 
other  institutions.  There  is  no  reason  why  institutions 
like  Ohio  Wesleyan,  Northwestern,  Oberlin,  Mt.  Holyoke, 
Cambridge  University,  Alexandria  Seminary,  Wyclifie 
College,  should  be  exceptions  in  this  matter  of  yielding 
large   missionary   results. 

The  difficulty  reduces  itself  largely  to  one  of  close  super- 
vision and  thorough  and  constant  cultivation.  To  this 
end  the  staff  of  secretaries  of  the  Volunteer  Movement 
should  be  largely  increased  so  that  every  institution  may 
receive  at  least  one  unhurried  visit  each  year  from  an 
expert  on  student  missionary  matters.  The  traveling 
secretaries  of  the  Young  Men's  and  Young  Women's 
Christian  Associations  should  give  much  larger  attention 
to  the  missionary  policy  of  the  student  Associations  than 
at  present.  The  splendid  results  of  such  close  attention 
on  their  part  to  the  Bible  study  department  during  Ihe 
past  two  years  illustrate  what  might  be  done  for  missions 
with  the  benefit  of  such  co-operation.  Hundreds  of  sym- 
pathetic professors  should  be  led  to  assume  as  one  of  their 
outside  specialties  the  developing  of  the  missionary  spirit 
through  the  promotion  of  the  scientific  and  progressive 
study  of  missions.  The  mission  boards  should  release  for 
the  service  of  the  Volunteer  Movement  propaganda  such 
of  their  returned  missionaries  as  may  be  desired  to  ensure 
the  adequate  cultivation  of  the  entire  field.  Every  vol- 
unteer should  become  a  propagating  center  for  multiply- 
ing the  number  of  missionaries  and  the  number  of  mis- 
sionary leaders  for  the  home  Church. 

The  persistent  use  of  such  means  as  these  would  result 
in  vastly  greater  missionary  achievements  throughout  the 
North  American  student  field.  It  would  make  possible 
the  doubling  of  the  number  in  mission  study  classes  before 
the  next  Convention,  the  large  multiplication  of  the  num- 
ber of  institutions  supporting  their  own  missionaries,  the 
steady  increase  in  the  number  of  missionary  volunteers 
and  of  candidates  for  the  Christian  ministry,  and  the  send- 
ing out  into  the  ranks  of  the  millions  of  young  people 
thousands  of  new  leaders  to  kindle  their  missionary  zeal 

32 


and  devotion.  Not  many  years  would  pass  before  there 
would  be  in  every  student  community  at  least  one  band 
of  earnest  students  whose  hearts  God  had  purified  and 
touched  with  His  hand  of  power,  that  would  ^constitute 
a  veritable  spiritual  dynamo  from  which  would  course 
forth  missionary  light,  heat,  and  energy. 

The  time  has  come  for  our  Movement  and  for  the  entire 
missionar>'  enterprise  to  undertake  things  on  a  vastly 
larger  scale.  The  conditions  on  the  mission  field  favor  as 
never  before  a  great  onward  movement.  The  world  is 
open  and  accessible  as  to  no  preceding  generation.  Its 
needs  are  more  articulate  and  intelligible  than  ever.  The 
forces  of  Christianity,  both  native  and  foreign,  are  widely 
distributed  and  occupy  commanding  positions.  The  forces 
which  oppose  the  missionary  movement  have  been  markedly 
weakened.  Momentous  changes  are  in  progress.  On  all 
the  great  battle-fields  the  conflict  has  reached  the  climax 
and  if  the  present  attack  be  adequately  sustained,  triumph 
is  assured. 

The  conditions  on  the  home  field  are  likewise  favorable 
for  taking  advantage  of  this  unparalleled  situation  abroad. 
Our  missionary  organizations  have  acquired  a  large  fund 
of  experience  and  have  perfected  their  methods  to  such  an 
extent  that  they  are  prepared  for  the  prosecution  of  the 
campaign  of  evangelism  on  a  scale  and  with  a  promise, 
a  parallel  to  which  the  Church  has  never  known.  The 
material  resources  of  the  home  Church  are  so  stupendous 
as  to  constitute  her  principal  peril.  The  various  bodies 
of  Christians  have  recently  in  the  Inter-Church  Federa- 
tion movement  been  drawn  more  closely  together  than 
ever  for  purposes  of  practical   co-operation.  ' 

In  the  student  field  also  the  outlook  is  most  encourag- 
ing. The  Christian  student  movement  has  a  secure  foot- 
hold in  nearly  every  student  community  of  North  America. 
In  the  ranks  of  the  various  Christian  societies  of  students 
are  to  be  found  large  numbers  of  the  young  men  and  young 
women  of  large  capacity,  high  attainment,  and  choicest 
spirit.  The  student  movement  has  wrought  out  plans 
and  methods  in  years  of  experience  which  prepare  it  for 
cultivating  its  field  more  effectively  than  in  any  preceding 
time.     It  has  a  realizing  sense  of  its  perils  and  is  availing 

33 


itself  of  the  best  counsel  as  to  how  to  avoid  them.  It 
commands  the  sympathy  and  co-operation  of  every  mis- 
sionary agency  and  of  the  leaders  of  the  Church.  It  is 
animated  by  the  spirit  of  enterprise,  faith,  and  victory. 
In  view  of  considerations  like  these  our  Movement  simply 
must  press  forward  to  greater  tasks  or  decline,  suffer 
atrophy,  and  give  way  to  some  new  movement. 

What  are  some  of  the  greater  things  to  which  we  as  a 
Movement  should  give  ourselves?  The  leaders  of  the  vol- 
unteers in  different  lands  together  with  the  leaders  of  the 
missionary  forces  should  make  a  fresh  study  of  the  entire 
world  field  and  arrive  at  some  plan  by  which  it  will  be 
thoroughly  mapped  out  and  adequately  occupied.  It  is 
possible  to  accomplish  this  now  as  at  no  preceding  time. 
It  is  absurd  to  as.sume  that  the  Christian  Church  does  not 
possess  the  requisite  ability  and  consecration  to  accom- 
plish such  an  undertaking  which  is  so  obviously  in  accord- 
ance with  the  desires  and  purposes  of  Jesus  Christ.  We 
should  not  permit  ourselves  to  entertain  further  doubt  on 
this  subject,  until  the  best  constructive  statesmanship 
has  been  exercised  upon  it,  and  until  we  have  given  our- 
selves far  more  to  prayer  than  we  have  hitherto  done  that 
this  great  end  may  be  realized. 

We  should  lay  siege  to  the  Port  Arthurs  of  the  non- 
Christian  world  with  the  undiscourageable  purpose  to  cap- 
ture them.  We  should  not  shrink  or  falter  before  such 
apparently  impregnable  fortresses  as  the  Mohammedan 
world,  the  literati  class  of  China,  the  principal  citadels  of 
Hinduism,  the  great  strategic  capital  cities  of  Latin 
America.  Moreover  we  should  not  be  staggered  by  the 
comparative  indifference,  inertia,  and  unreality  of  vast 
bodies  of  Christians  on  the  home  field  nor  by  the  general 
materialism  and  worldliness  of  our  time.  This  should 
rather  lend  added  intensity  to  our  attack. 

And  let  it  be  reiterated  that  another  great  undertaking 
to  which  we  should  set  our  hands  is  that  of  raising  up  by 
the  use  of  all  good  human  devices  and  above  all  by  the 
superhuman  assistance  of  the  Spirit  of  the  living  God 
nothing  less  than  a  great  army  of  volunteers  of  such  fur- 
nishing that  they  will  meet  the  requirements  of  the  situa- 
tion and  of  such  purpose  of  heart  that  they  will  reach  the 

34 


fields.  Of  like  magnitude  and  importance  is  the  work  of 
greatly  enlarging  the  financial  plans  and  achievements  of 
the  missionary  movement.  There  are  literally  thousands 
of  individuals  and  families,  not  to  mention  churches,  which 
should  each  be  supporting  one  or  more  missionaries  and 
in  many  cases  whole  mission  stations.  The  rising  genera- 
tion of  young  people  must  be  made  a  generously  giving 
generation.  The  missionary  enterprise  must  be  so  pre- 
sented as  to  command  some  benefactions  as  princely  as 
those  made  in  recent  years  in  the  interest  of  the  higher 
educational  institutions  of  America  and  Britain. 

The  Watchword  of  the  Movement,  "The  Evangelization 
of  the  World  in  This  Generation,"  must  be  taken  up  in 
dead  earnest  by  different  bodies  of  Christians  as  the  cardinal 
point  in  their  policy.  Especially  must  it  lay  hold  of 
individual  Christian  students,  both  volunteers  and  non- 
volunteers,  with  such  conviction  that  it  will  become  in 
very  deed  a  governing  principle  in  their  lives  and  relation- 
ships. This  work  of  making  Christ  known  to  all  men  is 
urgent  beyond  all  power  of  expression.  It  is  the  unmis- 
takable duty  of  Christians  to  evangelize  the  world  in  this 
generation.  It  is  high  time  that  the  attempt  be  made  in 
serious  earnest.  We  appeal  to  the  Church  by  all  the  com- 
pulsions of  Calvary  and  Olivet  to  accept  the  challenge 
which  the  Volunteer  Movement  presents  in  the  proclama- 
tion of  this  Watchword. 

If  these  great  things  are  to  be  achieved  we  must  pay 
what  it  costs.  What  will  be  the  price?  Undoubtedly  it 
involves  giving  ourselves  to  the  study  of  missionary  prob- 
lems and  strategy  with  all  the  thoroughness  and  tireless- 
ness  which  have  characterized  the  intellectual  work  of 
those  men  who  have  brought  most  benefit  to  mankind. 
It  will  cost  genuine  self-denial.  In  no  sphere  so  much  as 
that  of  extending  the  knowledge  and  sway  of  Christ  is  the 
truth  of  His  own  word  illustrated,  "Except  a  grain  of  wheat 
fall  into  the  earth  and  die,  it  abideth  by  itself  alone;  but 
if  it  die,  it  beareth  much  fruit."  In  the  pathway  of  giving 
up  not  only  of  our  lives  and  possessions,  but  likewise  and 
more  especially  of  our  selfish  ambitions  and  preferences 
and  plans  will  we  most  surely  reach  the  great  goal  that  we 
have  set  before  us.     In  all  the  hard  persevering  labor  to 

3S 


which  we  must  give  ourselves  not  least  must  be  the  work 
of  intercession.  It  is  only  when  we  come  to  look  upon 
prayer  as  the  most  important  method  of  work,  as  an  abso- 
lutely triumphant  method  of  work,  that  we  shall  discover 
the  real  secret  of  largest  achievement. 

That  undertakings  like  those  which  we  have  set  before 
us  require  that  we  give  ourselves  to  them  with  undying 
enthusiasm  must  not  be  overlooked.  Important  as  is  the 
most  comprehensive  and  exhaustive  preparation  for  any 
great  work,  there  comes  the  time  when  the  work  of  prep- 
aration ceases  to  be  a  virtue  and  when  those  who  have 
done  their  best  to  prepare  must  give  themselves  with  daring 
abandon  to  putting  their  plans  into  execution.  God  grant 
that  this  Movement  fnay  never  lose  its  first  flush  of  opti- 
mism and  aggressive  enthusiasm.  Let  the  Crusader  spirit 
which  characterized  the  early  Christians  when  they  flung 
themselves  against  the  Roman  world,  more  and  more 
possess  it. 

Of  transcendent  importance  is  it  that  we  exalt  Jesus 
Christ  increasingly  in  the  life  of  this  Movement.  He  must 
continue  to  be  at  once  its  attractive  and  impelling  force. 
It  is  His  program  which  we  are  to  carry  out.  He  is  our 
divine  triumphant  leader.  By  His  Spirit  we  shall  conquer. 
The  one  word  which  sums  up  our  great  need  and  ambition 
is  that  the  mdividual  members  of  this  Convention  yield 
themselves  absolutely  to  the  will  of  God  and  the  domina- 
tion of  Christ.  "A  body  of  free  men,  who  love  God  with 
all  their  might,  and  yet  know  how  to  cling  together,  could 
conquer  this  modern  world  of  ours." 


36 


Student  Volunteer    Movement 

FOR    FOREIGN    MISSIONS 

THREE  WEST  TWENTY-NINTH  STREET 

NEW  YORK 


Executive      Committee 

John  R.  M-OIT ,  Chairman  Dr.  W.  Harley  Smith 

J.  Ross  Stevenson,  Vice-Chaimian    Bertha  Condb 
Hans  P.  Anuersen  Susie  Little 


Ji<ivisorv       Committee 


Rev.  Juuson  Smith,  D.  L). 
Mr.  Robert  E.  Speer 
Rev.  H.  C.  Mabie,  D.D. 
Mr.  John  W.  Wood 
Rev.  W.  K.  Lamhuth,  D.  D. 


Rev.  a.  McLean 

Rev.  S.  H.  Cheste^k,  D.  D. 

Mrs.  T.  M.  Harris 

Mrs.  N.  M.  Waterbury 

IvEv.  John  F.  Goucher,  1).  1). 


Secretariet 


Fennell  p.  Turner 

James  E.  Knotts 

Harlan  P.  Beach 

P.  Arthur  Conard 

Dr.  T.  H.  p.  Sailer 

William  U.  Pettus 

Una  M.  Saunders 

W.  A.  Tener 

Mrs.  Lawrence  Thurston 

Dr.  Samuel  M.  Zwemer 


Gene/al  Secretary 
Assistant  Secretary 
Educational  Secretary 
Assistant  Secretary 
Special  Mission  Study  Secretary 
Traveling  Secretary 
Traveling  Secretary 
Traveling;  Secretary 
Traveling  Secretary 
Traveling  Secretary 


1    1012  01119  4679 


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